Blender 2.8.2 Hair simulation - Pin hair to itself
You can try the free hairguide addon https://blenderartists.org/t/particle-hair-from-meshes-bezier-curves-nurbs/1154670 . It can create hair guides inside a mesh while following the exact direction.Then you can use bevel radius or a curve as bevel to create each braid shape.It's easy to adjust the thickness using  ALT + S.